This invention relates to the field of playing games of chance such as Keno or Lottery, which allows a player to potentially win a large sum of money by pre-selecting a series of numbers that may match a series of numbers randomly drawn by the gaming establishment for that game.
One of the most popular and well-recognized numerical games of chance is Keno. Traditionally, these games have been played by having a players select a series of numbers (e.g., five (5)) from a pool of numbers (e.g., one (1) through sixty (60)) along with placing a wager (e.g., $1(one dollar)) on the outcome of the game. The player is betting that the series of numbers he selected matches the series of winning numbers drawn by the gaming establishment (e.g., casino or restaurant). The player wins if his series of numbers matches the series of winning numbers drawn by the gaming establishment. Typically, the player who has an exact match (e.g., five out of five) wins the entire jackpot while he would win a portion of the jackpot or pre-determined amount of money if he selected four out of five, three out of five, two out of five or one out of five. The amount of money won by the player is usually pre-determined by the gaming establishment and are based upon a number of different factors including the mathematical probability of selecting the correct numbers which vary depending upon the pool of numbers selected from (e.g., 1 through 80) and the amount of money wagered on the game and number of people having winning matches.
Although traditional numerical games of chance such as Keno have been fairly popular and somewhat successful in generating large jackpots, the prior art has failed to recognize that a more exciting method of playing Keno can be created that would increase the number of players who would participate in the game which would result in higher revenue for the gaming establishments and higher payouts to the players. Typically months will go by before anyone hits the jackpot in traditional Keno, while one of the novelties of this invention is that the chances of someone winning the jackpot will increases substantially since the player can purchase two separate tickets and make a third wager to combine the selected numbers on each ticket. Also, by interconnecting different Keno game sites, a larger number of people can play the same games and, therefore, larger jackpots can be created much faster than traditional Keno by taking a percentage of all wagers from each individual Keno gaming sites and pooling them together. By creating larger jackpots this will encourage more players to participate in Keno games. Additionally, a player can increase his chances of winning by purchasing bonus numbers, which can be used in combination to the numbers chosen or selected initially. Also, another added feature allows the player to make a parlay wager whereby the player can bet that he will select one or more winning numbers on each of the two previous purchased ticket.
It is an object of the present invention to link a number of individual Keno gaming establishment sites together so that a percentage of wagers from each site can be pooled together to create a separate jackpot associated with a linked game in order to create larger jackpots.
It is also an object of the present invention to establish a combination wagering game wherein a player can place an additional wager that the combination of numbers contained on two tickets purchased separately will match the winning numbers.
It is also an object of the present invention to establish bonus numbers, which can be purchased separately by the player and used in addition to and in substitution for any of the numbers chosen initially by the player.
It is also an object of the present invention to establish a parlay wagering option whereby the player is betting that he will have one or more winning numbers on each purchased ticket.